Some worry lockout put NHL enthusiasm on ice

Blackhawks die-hards joyous but fear casual fans won't come back

January 19, 2013|By Bridget Doyle, Chicago Tribune reporter

Fans interact with Chicago Blackhawks winger Patrick Sharp during a scrimmage Wednesday at the United Center in Chicago. The Hawks take to the ice Saturday for the kickoff of an abbreviated season after a nearly four-month NHL lockout that soured some fans. (Scott Strazzante, Chicago Tribune)

Playoff rally towels hang neatly from the ceiling in Greg Boysen's Park Ridge living room to mimic the championship flags dangling from the United Center's rafters. The hockey decor doesn't stop there — he has bobbleheads and other red-and-black memorabilia throughout his home shrine to the Blackhawks, a team he can't wait to see hit the ice Saturday.

But while Boysen is itching for the lockout-delayed season to finally kick off, the longtime season ticket holder said he doesn't think the casual hockey fan will be as easy to win over.

"The die-hards aren't going to be affected — we're just happy to have hockey. But there will be a percentage of people who aren't coming back this season," said Boysen, 33.

The nearly four-month National Hockey League lockout soured some fans — but how many, and for how long, are questions that won't be answered right away. For the Blackhawks, a team with success on the ice and in ticket sales in recent years, there's plenty of positive momentum at stake.

"I think a lot of fans were shocked by the stupidity of the (lockout)," Boysen said. "Some days I'd wake up and couldn't believe what I was reading; they'd be so close and walk away and not talk for weeks. It was like a bad reality show. It was grown men acting like children."

Woodstock resident Becky Vogle said she's followed the team through its highest highs and lowest lows. Whether she's having a mother-daughter night at the United Center with her 19-year-old daughter Alyx or watching the NHL Network at home, Vogle said she never misses a game.

Vogle, 45, said fans should remember the sport is ultimately a business.

"It's not like you can hold the lockout against the program. Everyone has jobs and everyone does what they feel is right to get what they need or deserve," Vogle said. "I'm just anxious for the games to start."

Like Boysen, Vogle believes some fans may hang onto resentment.

"Hockey isn't the strongest sport we have in the U.S. in terms of fans and understanding," she said. "If you give people a break, you're definitely going to lose some."

And lose some they have. Wheaton's Christopher Gould, a former Blackhawks season ticket holder and self-described father of four passionate hockey players, said he's boycotting this year rather than be a "sheep that follows the herd."

The former youth hockey coach is turning his interest to college hockey at universities like DePaul and Loyola or even youth games at Woodridge's Seven Bridges Ice Arena.

"I am on strike against those greedy people who have tarnished our cup," said Gould, 48, of Wheaton. "I don't need to fall back into the pattern of watching guys who play the game for their wallet instead of the passion."

Blackhawks President and CEO John McDonough said at a news conference this week that the time off was difficult for fans because of "high expectations."

McDonough said the season ticket waiting list grew by 250 during the lockout, but he's not sure what that means for the season.

"We know who we are. We know where we stack up in the city of Chicago," McDonough said. "And for those fans who are upset, deservedly, we are going to do everything we can to win them back."

In a new effort to keep fans' attention, the Blackhawks announced this week that they'll give away 1,000 autographed sweaters, 250 autographed pucks, 100 autographed sticks and some 200-level tickets and meet-and-greet experiences to those who fill out an entry form on chicagoblackhawks.com.

Blackhawks tickets remain in high demand. Shannon Barbara, spokeswoman for ticket resale website StubHub, said her company expects a slight increase in Blackhawks ticket prices because of the compact schedule.

StubHub's ticket prices for the Blackhawks' 2012-13 season are averaging $214, while prices for the 2011-2012 season averaged $125, she said.

Allen Sanderson, a sports economist at the University of Chicago, anticipates hockey fans returning with some initial frustration but maintaining their interest in the NHL's abbreviated schedule.

Sanderson notes that the following for hockey is much smaller than for America's "two 800-pound gorillas — baseball and football."

The Major League Baseball strike of 1994 created stronger reverberations than this season's NHL lockout because it left fans with no World Series for the first year since 1904, Sanderson said. Even Mayor Richard M. Daley, whose White Sox had strong prospects before the strike, voiced distaste for baseball that year, the economist recalled.

"Everyone was angered by the cancellation of the World Series that year — it was like canceling Christmas," Sanderson said.

Even if the fans come back enthusiastically to the NHL, they will see a diminished game, Sanderson said.

"When teams play tight schedules, by the third game in a row they're dogging it. The sport can get sloppy," he said. "There will be wear and tear on the quality of hockey and higher potential for player injury."

Boysen, the Park Ridge Blackhawks fan, also runs the blog Second City Hockey, which saw an "explosion" in traffic once word came that the lockout was over.

"People who haven't commented on the blog boards in three or four months are back and they're excited," Boysen said. "The Hawks are in a good situation — they have a good on-ice product. As long as they keep winning, fans are going to be excited and keep coming back."